Legislative Mandate

The SHRA was established in August 2010 by the Minister of Human Settlements as per the Social Housing Act, No 16 of 2008. SHRA is a public entity in terms of Schedule 3A of the Public Finance Management Act, No. 29 of 1999 (PFMA).

Social housing is state subsidised rental housing targeted at low to medium income groups earning between R1850 and R22 000. The purpose of social housing is to contribute to the national priority of restructuring South African society in order to address structural, economic, social and spatial dysfunctionalities.

Social housing therefore contributes to widening the range of housing options available to the poor. The core mandate of the SHRA is to invest into, enable and regulate the social housing sector.

Laws and policies that govern social housing

The social housing sector operates within a legislative and policy framework. The Social Housing Act, 16 of 2008, together with the Social Housing Regulations  made thereunder, is the main piece of legislation governing the social housing programme.

However, there are many other laws which also govern activities in the sector. SHRA also makes rules (e.g. The Transfer and Disposal of Social Housing Stock and rules on Long-Term Accreditation of SHIs) on certain aspects of social housing from time to time.

Key policy documents which guide the sector include:

Role players in social housing

The SHRA is the regulatory body responsible for regulating, capacitating, and investing in the social housing sector. The SHRA administers the subsidies available to social housing and associated norms and standards.

All three spheres of government have important roles and responsibilities in the social housing sector. Municipalities have a key role in facilitating social housing in their local areas. There is a broad array of other stakeholders engaged in the social housing sector, including developers and property managers, development finance institutions, private debt financiers, research agencies, and representative bodies. At a provincial level, co-ordination of the social housing sector is provided by a Provincial Steering Committee (PSC).

The PSC is chaired by the provincial department responsible for human settlements and includes representation from the SHRA, the National Department of Human Settlements (DoHS); municipalities, the South African Local Government Association (SALGA); social housing institutions (SHIs), other delivery agents (ODAs); the National Housing Finance Corporation (NHFC), and representative sector bodies. At a national level, coordination is provided by the Provincial Steering Committee Chairpersons Forum (PSCC) and the National Rental Housing Task Team (NRTT). The NDoHS, acting through the Minister of Human Settlements provideS the legislative, regulatory, financial and policy framework for social housing.

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Take a look at our leadership structure of executives.
The SHRA was established in August 2010 by the Minister of Human Settlements as per the Social Housing Act, No 16 of 2008
Find out more about how the SHRA is organised into four programmes as illustrated…

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